


Cool Encounter

by VampirePaladin



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-06-01 00:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15131060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: Ronnie and Caitlin have their first conversation while trapped in a cooler.





	Cool Encounter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [backtothestart02](https://archiveofourown.org/users/backtothestart02/gifts).



They’d seen each other as they passed back and forth through the halls of S.T.A.R. Labs. There was enough recognition between Ronnie and Caitlin to nod and say an occasional greeting when they just happened to see each other, but they couldn’t even be really called acquaintances. 

“Hello?” Ronnie called out. “Is someone out there? We’re locked in.” He tried banging on the door of the cooler, but the sound was muffled, there was no way someone would hear it on the other side.

“You’ve been trying that for twenty minutes now. It barely makes any sound. Why don’t you wait until you can see somebody through the window and then try to make noise? At least that way you aren’t hurting yourself for nothing,” Caitlin said. She was sitting on the floor of the cooler, her knees brought up to her chest, rubbing the bare arms left exposed by her sleeveless top.

Ronnie turned away from the door and walked further into the cooler before sitting down across from Caitlin on the other side. He was better off as he’d at least wore long sleeves to work, but he wasn’t better off by much.

“Ronnie Raymond.”

“Excuse me?” Caitlin asked.

“My name is Ronnie Raymond,” he said. “There isn’t anything else to do in here until someone finds us and lets us out.”

“Doctor Caitlin Snow. You’re an engineer, right?” Caitlin asked.

“I am, structural engineer actually.”

“So why did you build coolers that can’t be opened from the inside to get out?” Caitlin asked at the very obvious design flaw. She’d gone into more coolers than she could count since her college days and this was the first time she’d been trapped inside of one because there was no way to open up the door from the inside.

“That wasn’t my call. Dr. Wells insisted that the coolers be designed the way they were for maximum efficacy and that as long as there were hourly checks that it wasn’t cold enough to cause any serious harm. I tried to object but,” Ronnie shrugged, “he’s the one that pays the bills.”

“And somehow you got stuck in a room that you knew that you couldn’t get out of?” Caitlin asked. 

“I did have the door propped open,” Ronnie reminded her.

Caitlin made a face. There had been a wooden shim holding the door open. Not knowing its purpose, she’d knocked it out of the way as she’d come inside the cooler to retrieve samples that she needed for her research. She’d never gone into this cooler herself, it had always been her assistant that had gone to get them for her, so the eccentricities of it had been unknown to her.

They fell into silence as Caitlin kept rubbing her arms.

“You look cold,” Ronnie said.

“I am,” Caitlin said.

“You can have my shirt if you want it,” Ronnie offered.

Caitlin shook her head, “I’ll be fine. Someone is supposed to check this cooler every hour, right? Besides, if you gave me your shirt then you’d be cold.”

“Good point.” Ronnie then got up out of his spot and took three steps so that he was next to Caitlin before sitting down again, now right next to her. “How about this instead?” Ronnie asked. He didn’t try to put his arm around her or otherwise touch her, he just sat next to her.

Caitlin nodded, “It makes sense to sit next to each other until help comes.” 

There was silence between the two of them as they waited. It took another fifteen minutes before the door opened to reveal Dr. Wells in his wheelchair.

“Did the two of you get locked inside?” he sounded amused as he asked.

“I told you we needed to have a way to open the door from the inside,” Ronnie said.

“I agree with Ronnie.”

“You’re right. I suppose I was a bit blinded by my desire to make the cooler as efficient as possible. I’ll have a door release added right away and why don’t the two of you take the day off, paid of course. It’s the least that I can do.”

Ronnie looked over at Caitlin and gave her a smile, “How about some coffee to warm us up? It will be my treat.”

“From Jitters or Starbucks?” Caitlin asked.

“I’m fine with whichever you prefer.”

“Jitters then,” Caitlin said. She was still rubbing her arms as she walked away from Dr. Wells and the cooler alongside Ronnie Raymond.

Dr. Wells, actually Eobard Thawne was smiling as they walked away. With his acceleration of the accident that would give Barry Allen his powers he’d had to make a few other changes to make sure the key players would be ready ahead of schedule. One of those changes was to make sure that Ronnie Raymond and Caitlin Snow would become romantically involved ahead of schedule. Now that the two had actually been forced to spend some time together, the two should proceed as they had in his timeline. The cooler had served its purpose and now he was prepared to have it changed so that it would actually be safer to use.


End file.
